Highlights from 10/16/14 school board meeting

It was a fairly uneventful meeting this month – which is good news for Milford! Following are this month’s highlights:

The school board held a public session on the 2015-16 school calendar. The year will start for students on August 20 and end on May 25. First semester ends before the semester break, which runs from Thursday, December 17 (last day of school) through Monday, January 4 (first day back). The 175 school days provide significantly more hours in the year than required by state law at each grade level. The board will vote on the calendar at the November meeting; if you would like more details, please let me know.

McCormick Elementary Principal Don Baker shared the success of the school’s running clubs, that have evolved since 2008 and now include working with the JH and HS cross country coaches.

Meg Krsacok, Communications Director for the district, re-worked our website this fall in conjunction with Legend Web Works. The new site includes spots for advertising; Legend sells the advertising and shares the revenue with Milford. Kedrick Fitzgerald from Legend presented the board with a check for $1400-some for the first quarter.

Partners for a Drug-Free Milford Miami Township reminded us all about Red Ribbon Week – THIS WEEK, 10/27-31 – encouraging us all to wear red ribbons to support drug prevention. On 10/23, they also held two events: Re-Do Day, where 200 MHS students come together to embrace diversity, build self-esteem, support their peers and work to eliminate bullying. This is the second Re-Do Day in Milford and was another very successful year. Also on 10/23, they hosted “Hidden in Plain Sight” at the high school, an interactive exhibit to teach parents where to look for warning signs of drug and alcohol abuse in a teenager’s room. This was the first time for this program, which was also very successful.

The Business Advisory Council is seeking a Chair for the next two-year term. The Chair leads a group of eight in a project determined by the school board. The BAC is a great way for the board to tap into the expertise of our local businesspeople (you must live, work or own a business in the MEVSD to chair or serve on the BAC), and for local businesspeople to share their knowledge to help improve the district. Anyone interested in chairing should send a letter of interest and résumé to Dr. Farrell at 777 Garfield, Milford, 45150 no later than October 31. Also, if you are interested in serving as a member of the BAC, please send information to Dr. Farrell.

Financial reports for the month ending September 30, 2014 show the district is right on track for the year. The board approved a slightly revised five-year forecast (see Treasurer Debbie Caudle’s Powerpoint here: Five_Year_Forecast 2015 Board Presentation), which showed a cash balance that was up vs. projections, due to both savings achieved last year and some expense reallocations from last year to this year. Revenue overall is up vs. projections, and expenses down, giving us a strong forecast through 2018-19. For 2016-17, the board will consider placing a bond issue on the ballot for the Junior High, which will be the last portion of the facilities master plan. This will be a good year because of the large cash balance we are projected to be carrying, which will give us a better bond rating.

Milford is considered an “affluent area” and thus our funding in the state funding formula is capped. This means we are “losing” over $2 million that we would be entitled to from the full formula. More affluent districts are “capped” so that extra money they are not given can be reallocated to districts that are not as wealthy.

The district accepted donations from a variety of places. Home Depot, WalMart, Target & Meijer donated a total of $835 for the HS Drama Department for enhancements to the Green Room. Rod-Techs, Inc. donated $3,000 for year-long training in Diversity and School Culture for the Ninth Grade Community. Zatkoff Seals & Packings donated $500 to the Success Academy.

The district is studying the feasibility of All-Day Kindergarten, which would provide a rigorous program as an option for families. Because Milford is capped in the state funding formula (see two bullets above), we would not receive funding for adding an all-day kindergarten option. This means we would have to charge for the option to cover costs. The administration will be presenting information and a recommendation to the school board soon.

Construction of Boyd E. Smith & Charles L. Seipelt Elementaries continue on track. The building designs are done and the district is going through them to ensure they represent what we truly want. Boyd and Seipelt are working on design themes for the interior: Boyd will be the BESt Place to Grow with a woodland theme, and Seipelt will focus on SOAR at Seipelt, with a sky/eagle theme. These slogans/themes follow what the buildings have been doing for years already.